How much is too much on pet care?

[xeemzor]

My mom has a dog that has been in the family for about 10 years. Now, the dog is having some health problems, and now she spends quite a bit of money for x-rays, medication, surgery, walks, etc. I'd have to say that she has spent within the $5k-$7k range over the past 2 years on this kind of stuff. Is this normal? Do most people spend this much on family pets?

 

[bignateyk]

I dunno. My parents paid $$ to give my dog prozac for the last 3-4 years of its life. Never been faced with a situation requiring any kind of surgery though. We never treated our cats for anything other than worms or standard stuff. If they got sicker than that, they were either put down or left to die of natural causes. Only owned one dog and it was put down after its kidneys were failing at 11 years old.

edit: The only medical costs over the life of the dog were routine stuff, a cast for a broken leg, and prozac late in life for anxiety problems.

 

[Whisper]

I wouldn't say that $5-7k over the course of two years is tremendously unreasonable or abnormal. Now, spending that much on a single visit might be construed as such by many people.

 

[waffleironhead]

it depends on what you can justify to yourself. I for one would rather spend ~$2000 keeping a loved pet alive that spend it on something like a big screen tv or a fancy car. It all depends on what you value.